1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to hunting stands and more particularly pertains to a new adjustable hunting stand system for providing a substantially level platform and seat regardless of the orientation of the structure on which the stand is mounted.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The use of hunting stands is known in the prior art. Conventional hunting stands are designed for mounting to upstanding members such as trees, poles, and other generally vertically oriented structures. However, most trees in the wild are not xe2x80x9cplumbxe2x80x9d and thus typically do not present a perfectly vertical surface on which the hunting stand can be mounted. The known prior art hunting stands typically have a platform that has an operational position that is substantially perpendicular to the mounting surface, and as a result any significant slant of the mounting surface produces a slant in the operational orientation of the platform and seat. This slant of the platform can present a serious hazard to the hunter using the stand, since the stand is usually mounted at least several feet above the ground surface and any fall from the slanted platform will most likely result in an injury. This problem becomes especially serious when one considers that the hunter almost always is carrying a gun or a bow with sharp arrows. Another factor making the hunter""s perch on the prior art stands more precarious is the fact that a tree almost invariably presents a curved surface against which the stand must be mounted, and the shifting of the hunter""s weight on the platform can cause the stand to pivot on the tree surface.
The adjustable hunting stand system according to the present invention substantially departs from the conventional concepts and designs of the prior art, and in so doing provides an apparatus primarily developed for the purpose of providing a substantially level platform regardless of the orientation of the structure on which the stand is mounted.
In view of the foregoing disadvantages inherent in the known types of hunting stands now present in the prior art, the present invention provides a new adjustable hunting stand system construction wherein the same can be utilized for providing a substantially level platform regardless of the orientation of the structure on which the stand is mounted. In particular, the stand has provisions to enable the platform and seat to be leveled on a tree that is either slanted sideways or fore and aft, or slanted both sideways and fore and aft. In addition, the platform and seat may be adjusted either separately or together.
To attain this, the present invention generally comprises a stand system for mounting on an upstanding member such as a tree trunk and for supporting a person at an elevated position with respect to a ground surface. The adjustable hunting stand system includes a base assembly for mounting to an upstanding member and a platform assembly. The platform assembly comprises a platform member pivotally mounted to the base assembly and a platform support structure supporting the platform member in a plurality of positions with respect to the base assembly such that the platform is supportable in a level orientation substantially independent of the orientation of the upstanding member.
The base assembly may comprise a base structure including a support member for positioning adjacent to the upstanding member and a lateral member mounted to a lower end of the support m member. The support member may have a plurality of positioning apertures, and a seat structure is mounted to the support member and is positionable along a length of the support member. The seat structure may include a carriage assembly being slidably mounted to the support member and being selectively fixable in a plurality of positions and an arm assembly including an arm member pivotally mounted to the carriage assembly. The arm member is selectively positionable at a plurality of pivot positions with respect to the carriage assembly. The arm assembly may include an adjustment member mounted to the arm member for providing fine adjustment of the angle of the position of the arm member with respect to the carriage assembly.
Attachment means comprising a hook member, a strap or the like may be provided for mounting on an upstanding member and suspending the base assembly from the upstanding member.
The platform support structure may include a platform support slider movable along the support member, and a suspension assembly comprising at least one suspending member linking the platform member to the platform support slider such that the position of the platform support slider along the support member fixes the pivot extent of the platform member.
Optionally, the seat structure may be pivoted with the platform member. The base assembly may comprise a sling seat structure including a first sling support member mounted to the support member near the upper end of the support member, a position adjusting slider assembly being slidably mounted to the support member, and a second sling support member mounted to the position adjusting slider assembly. A sling seat extends between the first and second sling support members, and may comprise a panel of material looped about the first and second sling support members. An optional suspension assembly includes at least one suspending member linking the platform member to the position adjusting slider such that position of the position adjusting slider fixes the pivot extent of the platform member and the orientation of the sling seat structure.
There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the invention in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood, and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are additional features of the invention that will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto.
In this respect, before explaining at least one embodiment of the invention in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction and to the arrangements of the components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the drawings. The invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced and carried out in various ways. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology employed herein are for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting.
As such, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the conception, upon which this disclosure is based, may readily be utilized as a basis for the designing of other structures, methods and systems for carrying out the several purposes of the present invention. It is important, therefore, that the claims be regarded as including such equivalent constructions insofar as they do not depart from the spirit and scope of the present invention.
A highly significant object of the present invention is to provide a new adjustable hunting stand system for providing a substantially level platform regardless of the orientation of the structure on which the stand is mounted. The new adjustable hunting stand system may be mounted on trees that deviate from a plumb orientation, or that have surface irregularities, that would make prior art stands unstable or place the prior art platforms at such a slope that the platform is dangerous to stand on, and thereby making available a much greater variety of stand mounting locations unusable with prior art stands. A seat may be positioned in an orientation that is substantially parallel to the platform for greater comfort for the hunter using the adjustable hunting stand system.
One object of the present invention to provide a new adjustable hunting stand system apparatus and method which has many of the advantages of the hunting stands mentioned heretofore and many novel features that result in a new adjustable hunting stand system which is not anticipated, rendered obvious, suggested, or even implied by any of the prior art hunting stands, either alone or in any combination thereof.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a new adjustable hunting stand system which may be easily and efficiently manufactured and marketed.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a new adjustable hunting stand system which is of a durable and reliable construction.
An even further object of the present invention is to provide a new adjustable hunting stand system which is susceptible of a low cost of manufacture with regard to both materials and labor, and which accordingly is then susceptible of low prices of sale to the consuming public, thereby making such adjustable hunting stand system economically available to the buying public.
Still yet another object of the present invention is to provide a new adjustable hunting stand system which provides in the apparatuses and methods of the prior art some of the advantages thereof, while simultaneously overcoming some of the disadvantages normally associated therewith.
These together with other objects of the invention, along with the various features of novelty which characterize the invention, are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure. For a better understanding of the invention, its operating advantages and the specific objects attained by its uses, reference should be made to the accompanying drawings and descriptive matter in which there are illustrated preferred embodiments of the invention.